Federal immigration officials on Friday said they have one man in custody and continue to look for a second man they say tried to drive a vehicle into immigration officers during an immigration operation in Colorado Springs this week that led to gunfire from agents.
In a statement issued Friday afternoon, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they had actually made an arrest by 2 p.m. Thursday. Francisco Zapata-Pacheco was one of two men ICE was seeking when they said a driver steered his car toward agents. Zapata-Pacheco was the passenger and was said to be cooperating with ICE while in custody for immigration proceedings.
A statement from ICE issued Thursday afternoon made no mention of a man in custody. Friday’s statement from ICE did not explain that.
The agency also released the identity of the second man, who is still being sought. Jose Mendez-Chavez of Mexico has prior convictions for child abuse, domestic violence and illegally re-entry of the U.S., according to the agency. ICE said he has been removed from the U.S. six times previously.
ICE said the investigation remains active.
The incident began Thursday when the two men fled from agents in rural El Paso County, near the Colorado Springs city limits. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot into a car during an enforcement operation after one of their targets in the enforcement action revved the engine and attempted to drive into the officers, officials said.
It’s not known whether the driver was injured in the shooting. Zapata-Pacheco was not.
An investigation last year by Business Insider and The Trace found that ICE agents had been involved in 59 shootings between 2015 and 2021, with 23 of those leading to fatalities. Shootings by ICE agents are investigated internally by that agency or the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
